Tag: perfect slope

Mold and mildew are two of the most common problems faced by homeowners in their shower area. Since mold and mildew require a moist and humid environment to grow, any water accumulation over or under your shower floor can become a breeding ground for them. Therefore, it is important that you have a perfectly pitched pan liner as well as tiled floor to ensure that water is effectively directed towards the drain weep holes, and does not accumulate over the pan liner or the tiles.

A typical shower consists of a layer of mortar in between the pan liner and the tiled floor. Since water can easily seep through the tiles and grout on your shower floor, the mortar layer gets wet easily. Unless a proper environment is available, the mortar layer tends to remain moist for a long duration of time. Further, water can also accumulate over the pan liner in case there is not adequate pan liner slope to direct the accumulated water to the drain weep holes. This problem can be solved by having your pan liner sloped towards the drain weep holes. This slope will ensure that water does not accumulate over the pan liner and does not act as a breeding ground for mold and mildew.

The standard slope, which is accepted for a pan liner to ensure effective drainage of water to the drain weep holes, is 1/4” per foot. It is crucial to build the right slope since an inadequately sloped shower will result in puddling and accumulation of water, and over sloped floor will not feel right. In order to achieve this perfect slope of 1/4” per foot, you can use Pre Pitch, which is a unique screeding tool. Pre Pitch can be effectively used on plywood sub floors as well as concrete sub floors, and is ideal for shower areas of all sizes. Pre Pitch will further ensure that water does not leak through the pan liner and damage the sub floor.

In order to prevent mold, you also need to ensure that the water from your shower area does not spread to the surrounding areas. This can be effectively achieved by building a curb around your shower area. A curb will act as a dam and will prevent splashing of water to the surrounding walls. Since the walls and floor around the shower area are susceptible to getting wet and mold growth, you can prevent it from occurring by building an effective curb around your shower area.

Thus, we can see that two of the most important tools to prevent mold growth are a properly sloped pan liner and an effective curb. Pan liner slope will prevent accumulation of water, and a curb will ensure that water does not splash around to the surrounding walls and floor. So while designing and building a shower area in your house, it is essential to consider these factors in order to ensure that you do not face the problems of mold and mildew in the future.

For most individuals, a perfect shower would be leak proof, would have perfect drainage and would have the appropriate pan liner and tiled floor slope. As attractive as it may sound, building a technically perfect shower area can be a difficult and time consuming task. Further, any miscalculation while building any component could result in significant maintenance and repair expenses for you in the future. Let us take a look in detail at some of the parts of a perfect shower:

Your tiled shower floor area is essential since it is your first line of defense against leakage to the sub floor. Your tiled shower floor should have an adequate pitch to effectively direct water towards the drain. If the slope is inadequate water will accumulate and leak through the tiles and the grout. To slope your shower floor adequately you can use Quick Pitch, which is an effective and easy to install tool. Quick Pitch can be used in showers of different areas, thereby allowing you to build a shower floor that is perfectly pitched and leakage free.

Even after tiling and grouting your shower floor there is bound to be leakage to the mortar layer beds. The key to avoiding this problem is to place an effective and waterproof liner over the sub floor. Not only is placing a pan liner important, but sloping it appropriately is important as well. This slope will ensure that the water seeping through the tiles and grout does not accumulate over the pan liner and is effectively drained into the weep holes. In order to achieve a perfect slope you can either avail the services of an expert, or you can use tools such as Pre Pitch. Pre Pitch is an easy to install floor drainage system that ensures a standard pan liner slope of 1/4” per foot. Tools such as Pre Pitch can enable you to construct a perfectly sloped pan liner, thereby ensuring no accumulation of water below the mortar bed.

The curb of your shower area will make sure that water does not splash out, and does not damage the surrounding areas. Although a curb is an essential component of a shower, there are chances of damage to the pan liner while installing the curb in your shower area. Kirb Perfect is an ideal solution to this problem. Kirb Perfect can be installed even without the use of wooden blocks, thereby eliminating the need to nail it to the floor. This in turn eliminates any chances of damage to the pan liner.

Thus, we can see that although creating a perfect shower area is a complex task, it can be made easy and effective through the use of tools such as Quick Pitch, Pre Pitch and Kirb Perfect. A perfectly sloped shower area will ensure that there is no leakage and damage to the sub floor. Further, a perfectly sloped floor will also eliminate the growth of mold on your shower floor, thereby ensuring that you are able to enjoy a refreshing and rejuvenating experience.